Premier League 2019/20: 5 players who have exceeded expectations

We’re now quickly closing in towards the hectic Christmas period of the 2019/20 Premier League season, and with just 12 games gone, we’ve already witnessed some surprising outcomes.

Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United – two of the league’s established ‘big six’ - are struggling in mid-table, while Leicester City and Sheffield United are surprisingly part of the top five.

We’ve seen some surprises when it comes to players, too – some stars that were expected to light up the Premier League have struggled, while others have exceeded their pre-season expectations massively and helped their clubs to on-pitch success.

Here are 5 Premier League players who have exceeded expectations thus far in 2019/20.

#1 Jamie Vardy

On current form, Vardy could top his best return of 24 goals in a season

Okay, so it’s not like anyone was expecting Jamie Vardy to have a bad season in 2019/20, but few fans would’ve predicted that the Leicester City hitman would be leading the pack when it comes to the race for the Premier League’s Golden Boot by this point in time. Vardy has thus far delivered 11 goals in 12 games, averaging a goal every 98 minutes played.

The former England striker was famously one of Leicester’s most outstanding players in the epic 2015/16 season that saw the Foxes upset all of the odds to win the Premier League title, but interestingly enough, he’s almost on course for an equally good season this time around.

After 12 games that season, Vardy had 12 goals, one more than he has now – but it could easily be argued that his current run is even more clinical, given 10 of his goals have been from open play compared to 9 in 2015/16, when he scored three penalties.

Vardy has been a consistent source of goals for Leicester for years now, but could this be the year that sees him beat his best return of 24 league goals? Quite possibly – it appears that Brendan Rodgers is getting the best out of him, as he scored 10 of his 18 goals last season after the Northern Irishman took over in February and basically hasn’t stopped.

On current form, the former non-league hitman could well fire Leicester into the Champions League.

Also check out: Premier League Premier League Table UCL schedule

#2 Tammy Abraham

Tammy Abraham can't stop scoring goals for Chelsea

Coming into 2019/20 there were plenty of questions hovering over Chelsea and their hopes for a strong Premier League showing, with one of them being centred around exactly where they’d get the majority of their goals from. The issue seemed obvious – last season’s top scorer Eden Hazard departed for Real Madrid in the summer, and the Blues’ other strikers – Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi – had struggled for goals.

Eyebrows were raised then, when new boss Frank Lampard handed academy product Tammy Abraham the #9 shirt and made him his main striker coming into the season. Sure, Abraham had scored 25 goals in 2018/19 on loan at Aston Villa, but that was in the EFL Championship, and in his single Premier League season on loan at Swansea City, the England youngster had only managed 5 goals in 31 appearances.

Thankfully for Blues fans, thus far Lampard’s gamble has paid off enormously. After drawing blanks in his first two games, Abraham has started to find the net on a stunningly consistent basis. The 22-year-old now has 10 goals in his 12 appearances, including braces against Norwich and Sheffield United and a hat-trick against Wolves.

Add in the fact that Abraham also has 2 assists to his name, and there’s easily an argument to be made that Chelsea have unearthed their most effective striker since Diego Costa in his peak year of 2014/15.

Can he keep up his form? Questions will continue to be asked due to his young age and relative inexperience, but the finishing abilities he’s shown thus far suggest he’s the real deal.

#3 John McGinn

John McGinn's all-action style has made him a crowd favorite at Aston Villa

Aston Villa might appear to be in a sticky spot in the Premier League right now – 17th position – but in reality they’ve performed much better than their results thus far have suggested, and with 3 wins to their name there’s every chance that they could start climbing up the table any time soon.

Captain Jack Grealish might’ve gotten many of the plaudits for the Villains thus far, but it could definitely be argued that the driving force this season has been John McGinn.

The Scottish midfielder – who cost a paltry £2.7m from Hibernian in the summer of 2018 – was one of Dean Smith’s most outstanding players in the EFL Championship last season, but few people could’ve predicted how well his all-action style would do in the Premier League.

McGinn has been fantastic for Villa literally from the first game of the season – when he shocked everyone by putting the Villains up against Champions League finalists Tottenham in their own stadium. Since then, the Scotsman has scored 2 more goals, provided 2 assists, and established himself as one of the Premier League’s best midfielders.

When Villa are on attack, it’s often McGinn driving forward and looking to find shooting opportunities, but without the ball, the Scotsman is equally effective, constantly harrying the opposition – and he never seems to tire, either.

It should come as no surprise that McGinn has been linked with a move to Manchester United, but with a long contract at Villa Park, the likelihood is that he’ll remain in the Midlands for the foreseeable future.

#4 John Lundstram

Nobody expected John Lundstram to become a Premier League star

Sheffield United have undoubtedly been the Premier League’s biggest surprise package thus far, as the newly-promoted side were widely tipped to struggle after not really making any marquee signings in the summer, and yet Chris Wilder’s side have thrived against their more illustrious opposition and currently sit 5th in the table.

Sure, the Blades could still get sucked into difficulty as the season goes on, but for now their team is flying high, and nobody seems to be flying higher at the minute than midfielder John Lundstram.

A former England youth star, nobody could’ve expected Lundstram to hit the ground running in the Premier League – particularly as he only made a paltry 10 appearances in the EFL Championship last season!

In England’s top flight though, Lundstram has seemingly had no problems adjusting whatsoever. Operating largely as a holding midfielder, the Blades man has become an expert at making late runs into the box to create opportunities – he’s scored 3 goals thus far – but he’s also thrived by making smart passes to his teammates, showing himself to be much more than a simple tough tackler.

Nobody else encapsulates Sheffield United’s style – hard work and grit but with a surprising amount of technical acumen – more than Lundstram, and given he’s only 25 years old, it wouldn’t even be a shock to see him receive international recognition soon.

Of all the players who’ve exceeded expectations this season, none have done it more than the Blades midfielder.

#5 Jorginho

Jorginho has gone from villain to hero in the eyes of Chelsea fans this season

When people talk about Frank Lampard’s Chelsea revolution, the main focus tends to be on his use of academy products, and there’s no doubt that Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham have been tremendous thus far this season.

But the man who’s exceeded expectations most at Stamford Bridge might well be one of last season’s big signings – Italian midfielder Jorginho.

Jorginho became a figure of mistrust in 2018/19; signed by Maurizio Sarri as the embodiment of his ‘Sarri-ball’ system, the Italian’s metronomic passing never seemed to really lead anywhere, and the general consensus was that the outstanding N’Golo Kante was being played out of position in order to accommodate him.

This season though, that’s all changed. Jorginho has kept his renowned passing style – he completes 78.6 passes per game on average with an 88.4% success rate – but he’s become much more of an attacking outlet, completing 12 key passes in his 11 appearances and producing two assists – including the likely pass of the season for Tammy Abraham’s goal against Watford.

Under Lampard, Jorginho appears to be unchained; he runs more, contributes to more attacks and has embraced his role as a senior player by becoming a true leader, all without losing the style that made him an attractive buy in the first place. Nobody has turned the views of their own fans around this season quite so much as the Italian.